Phoenix man gives adoptive mom priceless Mother's Day gift

Jordan McIntosh with his mother, Ingeborg. Jordan donated a kidney to his mother that, for the moment, is "the least I could do." (Source: McIntosh family photo)

PHOENIX (CBS5) -

She welcomed him into her home from the day he was born and now, 27 years later, her adopted son is paying it forward just in time for Mother's Day.

More than 120 foster children have passed through the McIntosh home, but few stole their hearts quite like Jordan McIntosh.

"They placed him in my arms and it was love at first sight," said Ingeborg McIntosh. She said she had to fight to adopt Jordan McIntosh after fostering him since birth.

"She wanted him to go either into an African American home or a biracial home," Ingeborg McIntosh said of his birth mother.

No other homes were available, and the adoption became final when Jordan McIntosh was 4 years old.

"He was a part of the family, no matter what," Ingeborg McIntosh said.

But she became sick with poly-cystic kidney disease and last summer, and she knew she'd need a transplant. What she didn't know is that Jordan McIntosh was already confirming that he was a match.

"I feel like this was my calling in life, I guess," said Jordan McIntosh. "Hopefully I can do more for her as I get older, but for the moment, it's the least I could do."

"I kept telling him almost up until the story, you can back up, and he said, 'No mom, I want to do this for you,'" said Ingeborg McIntosh. "'You took me in and now I want to do this for you.' I can't ask for a better son."

The surgery went off without a hitch last month. Jordan McIntosh said that after his mom fought so hard to keep him around, he's happy he could return the favor.

"Everything she's done for me since I was a kid, I just wanted to give it back to her, and show her how much I appreciate her," Jordan McIntosh said.

He said he also hopes by sharing his story, people will see it's never too late to pay it forward.

"It might be immediately, or 27 years down the line, but something good is going to come your way," he said.

The family has a fund called the McIntosh Benefit Donation Fund at Wells Fargo to help with medical bills.

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